“There are only two kinds of people in the world. The Irish and those who wish they were.”
– Irish Saying

While I know that St. Patrick’s Day is a mostly Irish-American phenomenon, it was something I’ve enjoyed celebrating in a very green way from my childhood until now. When I was in grade school, my mom would temporarily dye my hair bright green with food coloring and send me to class decked out in all green clothes as well. My teachers got a kick out of this and would show me around to different classrooms so everyone else could see my green garb from head to toe. This all stopped one year when it took 3 weeks for the green to wash out of my very platinum blonde hair! Yikes.

I was delighted to find the romanesco cauliflower at our local co-op, which is a green colored veggie that looks like little Christmas trees. Perfect for our green-themed dinner!While pickled carrots are probably not the most traditional Irish meal, I found it made a great addition to the flavor profile for the evening.

As a big fan of Gardein’s products, I was glad that I had some Turk’y Cutlets with gravy leftover in the freezer from a big sale I was lucky to hit around Christmas time. These went perfect with everything else.A couple of years ago a friend made a vegan Irish Cream for us, but I’m not sure what recipe was used. A quick search online landed me the easy-to-make and very delicious recipe from Oh She Glows. I don’t even like coffee or whiskey, but this hit the spot and was like a divine dessert after supper.We ended the night with a viewing of the campy Soylent Green: The miracle food of high-energy plankton gathered from the oceans of the world! It doesn’t get more green than that.

I love a cooking challenge, whether it’s gluten-free, no salt, no oil, raw, etc. Recently a good friend was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and was instructed by a nutritionist to limit her carbohydrate intake to 30 grams or less per meal. If you have ever researched how much carbohydrates are in your daily foods, you’d be astounded. Carbohydrates are in everything! Keeping a 30 gram limit of carbs per meal can be unsettling and difficult for most of us, vegan or not. I was determined to come up with a meal that was delicious, nutritious, and within this 30 gram limit that my friend would enjoy. Based on what was in my CSA and what I knew my friend would like, I created the following menu:

Vegan Carrot Curry Soup from AllRecipes.com
Dill Tofu Frittata based off of a recipe for Shiitake Dill Fritatta from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (instead of mushrooms, I just used a white onion and two chopped scallions in its place)
Lemon Pepper Tofu, also from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra MoskowitzVegan Coleslaw from The Sweetest VeganRoasted Romanesco Cauliflower from Brooklyn Farmhouse and Purple Kale Salad (my creation, see recipe below)
1 bunch purple kale
juice from one lemon
2 TB olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Tear leaves from the stems of kale into small, bite-size pieces and place in a large bowl. Juice the lemon and mix the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Pour the dressing onto the kale. Toss and serve.

The meal was amazing. It was a nice blend of different tastes, textures, temperatures, and tanginess. It also renewed my love for tofu frittatas. Tofu is low-carb and high in protein. The carrot curry soup was creamy and had a nice blend of spices. This was my first time making a recipe using romanesco cauliflower, which if you’ve never seen before, is green and has Christmas tree shaped florets. Adorable! The cole slaw recipe was very simple and a refreshing side dish. The purple kale also rounded out the meal well and provided additional nutrients.

Whether one is watching their carb intake or not, this is one fancy and fun meal. Enjoy.